Jazz Articles

Tigran Hamasyan Trio: New Era

by Ken Dryden
September 16, 2008

Tigran Hamasyan has been fascinated with music since the age of two. Born in Gyumri (Armenia) in 1987, he caught the jazz bug at age seven and was soon playing piano and experimenting with improvisation. Studying music formally and practicing constantly, Hamasyan also immersed himself in his native land's rich folk music, which he incorporated into his jazz performances. He won prizes in a number of music contests, though his crowning achievement was his first-place award in the 2006 Thelonious ...

Tigran Hamasyan: New Era

by Glenn Astarita
March 14, 2008

Armenian-born pianist Tegran Hamasyan is a striking talent, corresponding to his 2006 win of the Thelonious Monk piano competition. And with the Moutin brothers providing the largely peppy rhythms, the leader of this date transcends what many would surmise from a twenty year-old. Blessed with monstrous chops and a unique musical vision, the pianist seamlessly fuses Euro-folk melodies into a pulsating string of compositions, often tagged with brisk time changes and budding themes.

Hamasyan dances across the eighty-eights ...

Tigran Hamasyan: New Era

by Jay Deshpande
March 10, 2008

Tigran Hamasyan New Era Nocturne 2006 At twenty-one, pianist Tigran Hamasyan has already done much to launch his name into the world of emergent young lions. He has toured throughout Europe, moving beyond his native Armenia to take prizes in jazz competitions from Moscow to Monaco. And, after winning the prestigious Thelonious Monk Jazz Piano Competition in 2006, he studied in the United States before returning to Paris, where he recorded ...

Chris Cody Coalition: Conscript

by Barry O'Sullivan
February 3, 2008

Conscript, from expatriate Australian pianist/composer Chris Cody and his ensemble Coalition, is as politically correct as it could be. A classically trained pianist, Cody's musical versatility has found expression in a wide variety of work situations, from theatrical music productions to television and jazz festivals, playing with top liners such as James Morrison and Don Burrows in Australia and with Antonio Hart, Herb Geller, Frank Lacy and Roy Hargrove in the USA. Cody is ...

Dupont T: Spider's Dance

by Martin Longley
December 12, 2007

The Dupont is Hubert, a bassist from Paris, and his T-team is pianist Yvan Robillard, also presumably from that same city, drummer Chander Sardjoe (who lives in Amsterdam) and alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa, who resides in New York. This collection of Dupont's compositions was recorded in Paris towards the end of 2006 and fits in well with the settings that Mahanthappa finds himself in on this side of the Atlantic. There's a mathematical hard-nose, but it's still ...

Pierrick Pedron: Deep in a Dream

by Jeff Dayton-Johnson
February 1, 2007

Deep in a Dream was the jazz event of 2006 in France; alto saxophonist Pierrick Pedron and the album were showered with prizes and dominated journalists' “best-of lists. The explanation that everyone gives for their high marks is surprisingly guileless: the story they tell is one of an emerging figure of the French scene flying to New York City, alto under his arm, to lead a date featuring heavyweights Lewis Nash and (especially) Mulgrew Miller, and triumphing on jazz's home ...

Christophe dal Sasso: Exploration

by Jeff Dayton-Johnson
December 23, 2006

The story goes that flautist/bandleader Christophe dal Sasso, in his tireless quest for new sonorities for his arranging tasks, absorbed the lessons of saxophonist Dave Liebman's treatise A Chromatic Approach to Jazz Harmony and Melody. Onstage some time later with a big band at Paris's Sunset nightclub, he applied those lessons to an arrangement of Woody Shaw's “Little Red Fantasy ; and who should be in the audience but Liebman himself, who hears something oddly familiar in the group's sound. ...

Moutin Reunion Quartet: Something Like Now

by Ken Franckling
October 15, 2005

France's twin brother jazz combination, bassist François and drummer Louis Moutin, have just released their third Moutin Reunion Quartet recording in six years since the unit was formed as a showcase for their swinging, original compositions. It's another bop-rooted contemporary odyssey that is delightful in its scope and focus. The band is rounded out by pianist Pierre de Bethmann and the immensely gifted saxophonist Rick Margitza. Part 2 of the “Something Like Now title track provides a ...

Moutin Reunion Quartet: Something Like Now

by Mark F. Turner
September 30, 2005

Those twins are at it again: producing some fine jazz.

Paris-born bassist François and drummer Louis Moutin continue their brand of in your face (more correctly in your ear) jazz that sharply illustrates of contemporary bop sensibilities. Previous recordings and extensive gigs in Europe and the US have earned them respect among critics and fans as musicians dedicated to fresh compositions and vigorous performance. Since their musical reunion in 1999, the brothers have led various quartets with ...

Moutin Reunion Quartet: Something Like Now

by John Kelman
September 3, 2005

When twin brothers François and Louis Moutin brought their Moutin Reunion Quartet to this year's Ottawa International Jazz Festival, it was one of those surprise performances that created an immediate buzz amongst festival-goers. The intensely powerful quartet played with the kind of total engagement that grabbed the audience from the first note. While most people didn't know who the Moutin Reunion Quartet was walking into the show, it's a sure bet that they'll be remembering them for a long time ...